Consistency in compensatory eating responses following acute exercise in inactive, overweight and obese women

摘要

It is often assumed that some individuals reliably increase energy intake (EI) post-exercise ('compensators') and some do not ('non-compensators'), leading researchers to examine the characteristics that distinguish these two groups. However, it is unclear whether EI post-exercise is stable over time. The present study examined whether compensatory eating responses to a single exercise bout are consistent within individuals across three pairs of trials. Physically inactive, overweight/obese women (n 28, BMI 30.3 (SD 2.9) kg/m(2)) participated in three pairs of testing sessions, with each pair consisting of an exercise (30 min of moderate-intensity walking) and resting testing day. EI was measured using a buffet meal 1 h post-exercise/rest. For each pair, the difference in EI (EIdiff = EIex - EIrest) was calculated, where EIex is the EI of the exercise session and EIrest is the EI of the resting session, and women were classified as a 'compensator' (EIex. EIrest) or 'non-compensator' (EIex = EIrest). The average EI on exercise days (3328.0 (SD 1686.2) kJ) was similar to those on resting days (3269.4 (SD 1582.4) kJ) (P - 0.67). Although EI was reliable within individuals across the three resting days (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.75, 95% CI 0.60, 0.87; P, 0.001) and three exercise days (ICC 0.83, 95% CI 0.70, 0.91; P, 0.001), the ICC for EIdiff across the three pairs of trials was low (ICC 0.20, 95% CI -0.02, 0.45; P = 0.04), suggesting that compensatory eating post-exercise is not a stable construct. Moreover, the classification of 'compensators'/'non-compensators' was not reliable (k = 0.048; P = 0.66). The results were unaltered when 'relative' EI was used, which considers the energy expenditure of the exercise/resting sessions. Acute compensatory EI following an exercise bout is not reliable in overweight women. Seeking to understand what distinguishes 'compensators' from 'non-compensators' based on a single eating episode post-exercise is not justified.